Customer center

We are a boutique essay service, not a mass production custom writing factory. Let us create a perfect paper for you today!

Example research essay topic: First And Second Estates Third Estate - 1,607 words

NOTE: Free essay sample provided on this page should be used for references or sample purposes only. The sample essay is available to anyone, so any direct quoting without mentioning the source will be considered plagiarism by schools, colleges and universities that use plagiarism detection software. To get a completely brand-new, plagiarism-free essay, please use our essay writing service.
One click instant price quote

... the monarchy and the nobility had all the power in the country and a large percentage of the wealth. This was acceptable to them, but caused a great deal of unhappiness for common people who worked for their money. There was talk of reform and progress, but for many years it simply remained a plan.

The Old Regime was doomed to fall eventually, it was just a matter of time. The French population consisted of three classes: the nobility, the clergy, and the commoners. Most of the wealth resided in the first two estates, but most of the population belonged to the third. In the middle of the eighteenth century, a subset of the third estate called the bourgeoisie had emerged. These were people of common birth that had nothing to do with the nobility or the clergy, but through their efforts became successful in business, accumulating a considerable amount of money. They were the most educated, and often the most respected members of the community they lived in, and they were the ones who initiated the revolution on July 14 th 1789 by storming the Bastille.

This event was very significant, it was the people taking the ruling of the country into their won hands. The privileged classes were no more, the third estate became the power in the land, and no one had the right to dictate the terms of the constitution and the laws. Abbe Emmanuel Joseph Sieyes was a member of the first estate, but held the progressive views of the time: "What is the third estate? Everything. What had it been heretofore in the political order? Nothing.

What does it demand? To become something therein The third estate, then, comprises everything appertaining to the nation; and whatever is not the third estate may not be regarded as being of the nation. What is the third estate? Everything!" (Kishlansky, 671). However, not many people in the first and second estates agreed with this philosophy. They struggled to keep the revolution under their control, determined to retain their power and privileges, but it was now out of their hands.

The storming of the Bastille was a symbol of breaking free from the chains of the tyranny and the oppression and taking control of their lives, according to the teachings of the enlightened philosophies. The second revolution in 1792 was the revolution of the people; its motto was equality. This time it was led by the common people, urban workers, and peasants from the villages close to Paris. There were no high ideas of liberty and respect for tradition, it was simply the mob doing its job.

The popular movement constituted from the working men and women, some wealthier then others, but all from the lower part of the third estate. They all hated the privileged first and second estates, they believed that these privileges were not deserved and should not be condoned. Kishlansky states: "As the have-nots, they were increasingly intent on pulling down the haves, and they translated this sense of vengeance into a new revolutionary justice" (Kishlansky, 679). The ideas of the Enlightenment were finally realized. The bourgeoisie were educated people who were familiar with the works of many authors from the Age of Reason, these works helped structure their views of the political system, the rights of the people and the world around them. The writers of the time were most definitely a major influence on the leaders of the revolution.

As for the commoners, who were in their majority illiterate, they could not have read the philosophical works, but were likely to have heard some of the key points through their association with the more educated people of the time. The bourgeoisie realized that the old order of the country was no longer acceptable, and needed change. This change could only come with the complete reform of the political, as well as economic principals of the country. The monarchy was weak and not and acceptable alternative, the ruling of the land could not be left to the nobility and the clergy, who were not qualified to make well analyzed decisions.

The economic situation of France was in dire need of an educated leader. The privileged did not pay taxes and the commoners could not. This had to be changed, and the bourgeoisie were the perfect people to initiate this change. They had the business experience and the desire to put France back on its feet.

These changes could no longer wait, the revolution had to occur. On the other hand, the common working people were probably only aware of the philosophies of the Enlightenment through osmosis of information. They were aware that the people are in charge of their lives and the world around them and took that knowledge literally. They started their revolution for the principals of equality, because they firmly believed that they had the right to decide the path that their country, and along with their lives, was taking. They were now interested in the political and economic problems, the philosophy gave them the power. The ideas of the Scientific Revolution broke the old established ideas in science and let the minds of the scientists roam the infinite possibilities of knowledge.

This created a whole new generation of thinkers who not only studied the old traditions, but also created their new view of the world that was radically different. This variety gave the educated people freedom of choice to decide which views of the world better suited the time that they were living in, and permission to change the outdated notions of reality. Thus the bourgeoisie took advantage of the philosophies of the Enlightenment and applied them to their wold, creating a better place for them to live, and a better country for the following generations. When the social and economic situation of the country is outdated, the change is inevitable. In short, one revolution always causes another.

THE SCIENCE OF GALILEO The play Life of Galileo is considered a masterpiece and one of the most relevant plays of the 20 th century. It addresses the social and political problems of the late 16 th and early 17 th centuries. Brecht's play has at its thematic core the repression of individual freedom, contrasting the hostile worlds of Galileo's inner, insatiable drive for discovery with the brutally efficient tyranny of the Church-as-state which marches in sync with the chilling machinery of the Inquisition. The dramatic structure has elements of formal, classic balance, epic in its architecture.

Its dominant crisis point is the earth-shattering recantation of Galileo's revolutionary scientific discoveries. Richard Gist The play talks about the science of Galileo and its effect on society. The playwright, Bertolt Brecht, indirectly portrays some characteristics of "the human activity we call science." In our class we have discussed some characteristics which are similar and others that are different. One of the major characteristics is revealed when the scientific community refuses and resists the new paradigm that Galileo introduces. This is because scientists believe that he has used "wrong" methods. The new paradigm also contradicts with their religious beliefs, which is obvious when a monk says, "How can the sun stand still if it never moves at all as suggested by this heretic?

Are the Scriptures lying?" Furthermore, Galileo's ideas, if proven right, will negatively affect the professional standard of the scientists, as well as their school of thought and seniority. The scientific community of Galileo's time failed to see that discovery is "thinking what nobody has thought." They also refused to accept this bizarre paradigm because they believed that Galileo used unsuitable research techniques. For example, in Scene 6 one astronomer says, "He is examining it, though. He's sitting in there staring through that diabolical tube. " The norms of scientific behavior are portrayed in several scenes in this play. Galileo shows his determination to carry on his research, even though a deadly plague has spread throughout Florence. In Scene 5 he says, "I can't abandon these observations.

I have powerful enemies and I must collect proofs for certain hypotheses. " He also shows disinterestedness and humbleness when Father Clavius admits that Galileo's paradigm is correct by convincing a monk that it was not him that won, "It has won. Not me: reason has won. " This can also be seen in Scene 8 when he claims that the truth will rise above falsehood if reason and reasonable people are victorious, "The only truth that gets through will be what we force through: the victory of reason will be the victory of people who are prepared to reason, nothing else. " Later in the play, Galileo fears that he may have reached a chance event. He performs his experiments several times again to avoid running across a different observation that may result in the change of his final conclusion. In Scene 9, Galileo and his two assistants, a monk and Andrea, re-observe the sun to avoid a chance event, "Only when we have failed, have been utterly and hopelessly beaten and are licking our wounds in the profoundest depression, shall we start asking if we weren't right after all, and the earth does go round. " The play allows a question to arise: When is it wrong to tell the truth? Bertholt Brecht answers this question by portraying the characteristics of science that are similar to the ones that we have discussed in class. He compares the similarities between Galileo submitting to the Church's authorities' demand for retraction with the situation in WWII Germany in which the scientists were turning over their knowledge to aid the Nazi war effort.

Bibliography:


Free research essays on topics related to: educated people, first and second estates, third estate, economic situation, scientific community

Research essay sample on First And Second Estates Third Estate

Writing service prices per page

  • $18.85 - in 14 days
  • $19.95 - in 3 days
  • $23.95 - within 48 hours
  • $26.95 - within 24 hours
  • $29.95 - within 12 hours
  • $34.95 - within 6 hours
  • $39.95 - within 3 hours
  • Calculate total price

Our guarantee

  • 100% money back guarantee
  • plagiarism-free authentic works
  • completely confidential service
  • timely revisions until completely satisfied
  • 24/7 customer support
  • payments protected by PayPal

Secure payment

With EssayChief you get

  • Strict plagiarism detection regulations
  • 300+ words per page
  • Times New Roman font 12 pts, double-spaced
  • FREE abstract, outline, bibliography
  • Money back guarantee for missed deadline
  • Round-the-clock customer support
  • Complete anonymity of all our clients
  • Custom essays
  • Writing service

EssayChief can handle your

  • essays, term papers
  • book and movie reports
  • Power Point presentations
  • annotated bibliographies
  • theses, dissertations
  • exam preparations
  • editing and proofreading of your texts
  • academic ghostwriting of any kind

Free essay samples

Browse essays by topic:

Stay with EssayChief! We offer 10% discount to all our return customers. Once you place your order you will receive an email with the password. You can use this password for unlimited period and you can share it with your friends!

Academic ghostwriting

About us

© 2002-2024 EssayChief.com